Woodward, the commander of the German-based 17th Air Force, is in
charge of the U.S. airstrikes in Libya and the first woman in
U.S. history to oversee an air campaign.

A refueling and mobility expert, Woodward's normal role is
commanding all U.S. Air Force operations in the Africa theater, a
position she has held since June. Her territory includes 53
countries, 11 million square miles and more than 900 million
people.

Woodward has been in the Air Force since she graduated from
Arizona State University in 1983. She has logged more than 3,800
flight hours, flying and commanding operations in Iraq,
Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia.

Thomas Ricks notes, however, that Woodward's historic role in
Libya is somewhat accidental. The 17th is the air unit of U.S.
Africa Command, whose mission is largely humanitarian. It's
unlikely anyone thought she'd be carrying out an air war on
Qaddafi when she was assigned to AFRICOM in June.

Nonetheless, Woodward's leadership illustrates how the Libya
campaign is throwing gender stereotypes about war out the window.
In a NYT column Tuesday,
Maureen Dowd notes that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, national
security aides Samantha Power and Gayle Smith, and - eventually -
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were some of the more vocal
supporters of the no-fly zone.